Choosing The High Road

On Tuesday 23-year-old Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer won an Olympic Gold Medal in the 10,000 meter speedskating event, breaking the previous Olympic record in that event by a whopping 4 seconds.

But it seems that at the half-way point in the race he executed an inappropriate lane switch, was subsequently disqualified, and the gold medal was awarded to another skater.

That is a pretty interesting story in itself, albeit a rather sad one.  What really caught my attention, however, was Kramer's reaction to this unfortunate turn of events, as reported yesterday by Trey Kerby in the Yahoo Sports Blog:
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Sven Kramer is ready to 'go forward' after coach's mistake

It seems we were a little hasty in giving Sven Kramer a gold medal in "oops." A little later we learned that the Dutch speedskater's silly disqualification wasn't all his fault, as his coach, Gerard Kemkers, had told him to switch to the wrong lane halfway through the 10,000 meter race.

While Kemkers has accepted full blame for the gaffe, Kramer isn't throwing his coach under the bus. He told the Associated Press that "at the end of the day, it is my responsibility. I am the skater on the ice, I have to do it."

To his credit, it seems like Kramer is already ready to put the whole situation behind him. According to the New York Times:

"I'm not a person that is really mad for a long time," he said. "It doesn't help me, it doesn't help the team. I said to him we have to go forward. We have to go for more victories. That's important for me and for him."

Of course, the speedskating-crazy Dutch are taking things a little harder. Just days after their prime minister left office, that story was booted from front pages in honor of Kramer's folly. Journalists are speculating that Kemkers could lose his job.

But hey, if every coach who made a mistake got fired, we wouldn't have any coaches. Sven Kramer has the right idea.

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I had never heard of Sven Kramer before reading this article, but was touched that in a situation where it would be so easy to fall into anger and blame, he chose instead to take responsibility, forgive and move on.

I think Sven just got himself another fan.
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